Visa to Belgium: registration of documents, Embassy of Belgium in Moscow

In this article we will talk about how to get a visa to Belgium. This small but cozy kingdom is located in the heart of Western Europe, between the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands and France. Therefore, Belgium is convenient for visiting other EU countries. The state enters the Schengen zone. Therefore, to enter it, you need to open an appropriate visa. It is not easy to do this. But with a visa to Belgium you can see not only magnificent Brussels, medieval Antwerp, romantic Namur, but also to travel to all states of the Schengen zone. After all, these countries no longer have any protected borders. All EU countries live in peace and harmony and are not afraid of neighbor's intervention. Since Belgium is a small kingdom, not so many Russians apply for a visa there. And the lack of queues is an undoubted plus, especially when the date of the trip is "tightening up".

Where to apply for a visa to Belgium

Permission to enter this beautiful country can be obtained absolutely independently, without overpaying to intermediaries. To do this, contact the embassy of the country. It is located in Moscow, on Malaya Molchanovka Street, 7. This is the center, the Arbat area. But in order to be accepted in the embassy, you need to register for an audience. And you can do this through the visa center of Belgium, by calling their phone number. If you submit a package of documents directly to the embassy, you do not pay any service charges. You have to fork out only for the visa itself. Below we will talk about its cost. The option of opening a document directly benefits only Muscovites. After all, you will need to come for an interview at the embassy. And this, given the distance in Russia, can be very costly. For this purpose, the consulate of Belgium opened visa centers. They, unlike tour agencies, are authorized intermediaries of the embassy when they open a permit to enter the Schengen country.

Visa centers of Belgium

Earlier there were only two of them - in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Residents of the Kaliningrad region had to apply for a visa to Belgium to the Lithuanian Embassy. And the inhabitants of the eastern regions of Russia still had to fly to Moscow. But now visa centers have opened in many cities of Russia. These are Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don and Kazan. And in any of them a visa to Belgium for Russians residing in the region can be opened. This significantly reduces the cost of obtaining an entry permit. Although you will have to pay for the services of this visa center. The cost of the service charge at the moment is 1,890 rubles. Earlier it was possible to apply to travel agencies that undertook to fully organize your trip to Belgium, including with the hassle of opening a visa. But from the fall of 2015 new rules are in force.

Why travel agencies no longer undertake to open visas to Belgium

Employees of travel agencies can help you find and pay a convenient flight "Moscow - Brussels", arrange an insurance policy and find a hotel. But they will not help in opening a visa. Since September 2015, new procedural rules have entered into force. According to them, every adult visa recipient must undergo fingerprinting and be photographed directly on the spot - by employees of the consulate or the visa center of Belgium. Children inscribed on their parents' passport are exempt from fingerprinting procedures. But they, regardless of age, must appear at the consulate or visa center for taking photographs.

Features of opening a visa to Belgium

The Kingdom, as we have already mentioned, is included in the Schengen Agreement zone . Therefore, the process of opening a visa to Belgium does not differ much from the similar procedure for obtaining such a permit to enter Germany, France, Italy or Spain. But it has its own nuances. They may not be fond of traveling to "tourists" abroad often. In order for a visa to be opened in Belgium, at least one sheet must be clean in the applicant's passport. And if he wants to take a child with him on a journey, there must be four nearby pages that are free from stamps and stickers. Other countries are not so rigid in the requirements to the free space of the passport of the visa applicant. Requires at least one blank page, where, in fact, the brand is pasted. But the lack of queues in the service centers is a much larger plus than this small inconvenience.

Do you need a visa if you fly through Brussels (Belgium)?

The international zones of all airports are neutral territories. If you have chosen two connecting flights and are waiting for the next plane in such a sector, then you do not need a visa to Belgium. You should only have permission to enter your country of destination (if such is required for citizens of the Russian Federation). Therefore, in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, it is quite possible to fly through Brussels (Belgium). But this is provided that you will not leave the international airport zone. If you want to make a visit to the capital of Belgium, even for a few hours, even for a few hours , you will need to open a transit visa to this country. And for this it is necessary to go through a lengthy procedure for obtaining it. And of course, the requirement to have two free pages in the passport remains in force. As well as paying the consular fee.

What are the visas to Belgium?

Everything is simple. Visas to Belgium are short-term, long-term and transit. We have already mentioned the latter. It is important to know that a transit visa should be opened in advance if you fly with two transfers at Schengen airports (for example, Moscow-Brussels, Brussels-Munich, Munich-New York), even if you are not going to leave the international zones. The opening procedure and the cost of such permission to enter Belgium are similar to the tourist stamp type "C". This visa is given to the applicant for a stay in the country for a period of no more than ninety days in a half-year. The insert "C" can be asked with a one-time entry or the so-called "multi". But a tourist visa does not entitle you to work or other entrepreneurial activities. For this, a "D" insert is provided. And to get it you need a slightly different package of documents.

Visa "C"

To obtain it you can contact one of the embassy's service centers or directly to the consulate in Moscow. What kind of package of documents is required to provide for a short-term tourist visa to be opened in Belgium? First of all, a passport with a validity of more than three months as of the date of the supposed end of the trip. Next - a photocopy of the first page of this document, personally signed questionnaire, which is filled in English, Dutch or French. Still need to attach a copy of the internal passport, the original and a photocopy of medical insurance with a cover of thirty thousand euros. If you are traveling independently, you need to show hotel reservations for the entire period of your stay in Belgium, electronic air tickets (or a copy of paper) with a fixed return date. Employees of the consulate should be sure of your solvency and intention to return to Russia. To do this, they require an extract from your account, certified by the bank's stamp, about the flow of funds for the last three months, as well as copies of certificates for real estate.

Visa for working, students, pensioners

Workers will need to provide a certificate from the duty station - on the official form, indicating salary and position, certified by the signature of the director and the seal of the organization. This document should indicate that the visa applicant will retain his workplace during his trip to Belgium. Students need a similar document from their institution. Pensioners present a copy of the certificate. If they go by invitation of private persons, these latter should send by mail to your address a certificate of their solvency (sponsorship letter, photocopy of the passport, a certificate from the place of work indicating the salary). All these documents are submitted in a single package to the visa center of Belgium or the country's embassy in Moscow.

We go with children

If both parents take part in the journey, the procedure does not look so complicated. The application form, which is signed by Mom and Dad, is filled in. A child over six years old needs a picture pasted into a passport. If he is already fourteen, he must be the owner of his own document for traveling abroad. All persons under the age of eighteen must present a birth certificate. If the child has one parent, you must prove it with the appropriate document. It is much more difficult to get a visa to Belgium, if the child leaves only with his mother or father. In this case, the parent remaining in Russia must give his direct consent to such a trip. It must be certified by a notary. Also this parent is required to provide a copy of his passport. If the child receives a visa "D", then such permission to leave must be authorized and translated. The same is required if children travel with third parties (as part of junior teams, with grandmothers or other relatives). In this case, the consent of both parents is required.

Long-term visa "D"

The document "C" is received both at a business visit, and with a private trip to visit friends or relatives. But the period of stay in the country should not exceed ninety days. A visa to Belgium of type "D" is issued if the applicant intends to stay in the country for a longer period. You can ask for such an entry permit when the purpose of your visit is entrepreneurship (only participation in a firm that is a legal entity), training, treatment, marriage or family reunification. In each separate case, you need your package of documents in addition to the basic one, which is submitted by the applicant for obtaining a visa "C". The consular department reserves the right to request additional documents from the applicant or to invite him for a personal interview.

How much does a visa for Belgium cost and in what period does it open?

The fee is thirty-five euros in ruble equivalent at the exchange rate at the time of payment. The visa to Belgium is paid in advance by bank transfer to the embassy account. The receipt is attached to the general package of documents. From the payment of the consular fee, children up to the age of fourteen who are entered in the parents' passport, schoolchildren and students of higher educational institutions, sent to the country for education or for student exchange programs, close relatives of Belgian citizens or residents residing there legally are released. The visa is issued within ten working days. However, the embassy can request additional documents. Then the term of issuing the visa will be extended.